Page 1 of 1 The first thing to capture any viewer's attention is the S281's dramatic styling-boldly new from stem to stern. Its signature long hood and short rear deck emphasize the Saleen muscle under the bonnet and its traditional rear-wheel drive. Note those Saleen alloy rims. They are big, wide and clothed in equally aggressive rubber that completely fills the prominent wheel wells. Up front are integrated turn signals along with available HID (High Intensity Discharge) headlights. Featuring unique Saleen-designed headlamp assemblies incorporating the industry's first bi-functional Xenon/HID lamp, these lights use moveable light shield technology to achieve both high and low beam functions in a single reflector with only one HID light source. They provide 40 percent more light in both low and high beam functions than conventional lamps. A high-performance sports car deserves high-performance lighting.

Saleen was been using supercharging since the mid 1980s and introduced a supercharged version of the S281 in 1999. Once word got around about its performance capabilities, the S281 SC quickly displaced its normally aspirated S281 counterpart as Top Gun on the Saleen sales charts. With what Saleen has in store for the S281 SC for 2005, it will have even more spectacular performance. Let's start with the "guts" of the operation, the Supercharger. It's an all-new innovative design, so new and so innovative that Saleen has several patents pending on the design.

Saleen engineers started with unconventional wisdom. That meant tossing all current Supercharger design theory out the window. When they had finished with their out-of-the-box thinking, Saleen's engine wizards had created a design unique in the annals of supercharging. A Supercharger that "blows" all others away. A blower charming in its design simplicity and elegant in its compactness, light weight and high efficiency. It's called the Saleen Series VI integrated TwinScrew Supercharger with twostage water-to-air intercooling system.

Essentially, the Saleen design integrates the previously separate intake manifold, blower housing/assembly and intercooler into one compact unit that nestles neatly into the valley between the heads. This allows for a much wider intake manifold. The blower assembly contains twin screws, which push 2300 cc of air per rotation versus 1600 cc for last year's Supercharger. As a result, the Supercharger turns slower for equivalent boost, producing lower stress and lower air charge temperatures. The higher Supercharger efficiency, along with the lower air charge temperatures, allows for an intercooler that is smaller, lighter and more compact and which has virtually zero pressure drop from inlet-to-outlet side.

Where does the "two-stage intercooling" description come from? A second cooler located in the airdam below the engine radiator assists the intercooler integrated into the Supercharger assembly. Page 1 of 1